Benin Republic midfielder, Junior Olaitan Ishola is eagerly looking forward to battling the Super Eagles in the FIFA 2026 World Cup qualifiers so he would get an opportunity of punishing Nigeria.
Sports247 gathered that the midfield dazzler, who plays for Grenoble in the French lower division, Ligue 2, is still bitter with how he was snubbed when he tried to play for the Golden Eaglets.
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Although he stopped short of revealing details of how the snub happened, Olaitan believes he now needs to get revenge by stopping the Super Eagles’ World Cup dream.
Olaitan, who was born in Benin Republic but grew up in Lagos, has a Nigerian father and Beninoise mother, who was able to convince him to seek a different football dream after failing to get into the Eaglets’ squad.
The 23-year-old lad, who previously played for Ayema, Niort and Troyes before joining Grenoble last year, has since scored four goals in 26 games for Benin Republic, after getting his debut for The Squirrels in 2021.
While affirming his true nationality, Olaitan disclosed, “My mum is from Benin, and she’s in Benin. I initially tried to play for Nigeria when I wanted to join the under-17 team.
“I could not get the chance, but I don’t want to go into the details. Thank God I made it into Benin’s team, and I still have my dreams.”
He concluded by affirming that he is fully focused on playing against the Super Eagles in September, as he wants to help Benin Republic stop Nigeria from going to next year’s World Cup.
“We still have a game with Nigeria in Uyo this September, and I’m looking forward to it. We’ll see what will happen, but I believe we’ll sink them,” predicted Olaitan, who scored four goals in 24 matches this season for Grenoble.
Sports247 recalls that Benin Republic won the first leg 2-1 in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire on June 10, 2024, but they are bound to face a stiffer challenge in September’s reverse fixture, which will be the last match of the group qualifiers for both countries.
